


if this is the life then who'd argue?

by fledgeling



Category: Warriors - Erin Hunter
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Sibling Bonding, a tiny very small amount of angst like u have to squint to see it, set somewhere inbetween the forgotten warrior and the last hope, the draft title for this was 'owo' im just saying
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-11
Updated: 2019-11-11
Packaged: 2021-01-27 17:50:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,444
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21396220
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fledgeling/pseuds/fledgeling
Summary: Hollyleaf drags her brothers out to a hike outside of Clan territories to find a particular tree that was said to have been struck by lightning long before any of them were alive. It's actually somewhere really important but she hasn't told them that just yet.
Relationships: Hollyleaf & Jayfeather & Lionblaze (Warriors)
Comments: 10
Kudos: 43





	if this is the life then who'd argue?

**Author's Note:**

> Feel something right  
And feel something good  
Because if one thing works  
You might know its true

The sun drew lazily overhead as Hollyleaf padded along the dense undergrowth covering most of ThunderClan’s territory. Morning dew left on grass tips sprinkled water droplets onto her black pelt, behind her, Jayfeather grunted as her tail-tip accidentally brushed against his nose.

“Where are we going again, if you may remind me?” the medicine cat asked, hastening his pace to match with his sister’s “The sun is up and we’ve duties to attend to.”

Hollyleaf wrinkled her nose at his sour tone, “These seasons I’ve been gone really haven’t changed anything with your temper has it?”

Lionblaze, who was bounding ahead of them, released a short breath of laughter, “You’re not wrong, if anything I think he’s become _much_ grumpier.”

“Don’t joke on my account,” Jayfeather meowed, rolling his eyes, “Mousefur could snap at you if you so much as only _looked_ her way.”

“Okay, okay.” Lionblaze chuckled, slowing down and bumping shoulders against Hollyleaf’s other side, the gesture making her stagger a bit, the golden tom was always the biggest of the three of them, and was obviously regarded as the best warrior in terms of strength, but despite that given fact, Hollyleaf couldn’t really think of him and Jayfeather as anything else other than her little brothers. “Now, where _are_ we going?”

Hollyleaf’s whiskers twitched, letting the memories of Leafpool telling her of their birth slip past her mind like water on leaves, “Is it bad that I just wanted to talk?” she mewed, not really answering the question, “It’s been a busy moon.”

A bird cooed from one of the trees above them, Jayfeather sniffed at the air, “We’re nearing the scent marker, what are you planning?”

“Relax.” Hollyleaf huffed, giving a reassuring look towards Lionblaze when his fur began to bush up at the prospect of venturing away from home, “We’re not going to trespass another Clan’s land or do anything that breaks the warrior code for that matter- I just want to go somewhere, with the two of you.”

The trio paused just a mouse-length away from the border, ThunderClan’s green and airy scent wafting away towards the unknown, smelling of plants wet with dew and damp earth. Hollyleaf padded forward, stopping and looking over her shoulder when her brothers hesitated.

She jerked her head, eyes brimming with resolve, there was no talking her out of this, “Well? Are you two furballs coming?” didn’t mean they weren’t going to try though.

“Uh,” Lionblaze jumped over the scent line like it was a wide strip of mud, “Hollyleaf? I know I’m going to sound like Jayfeather but isn’t this a bad idea? Where are we even going?”

Jayfeather let the feigned tease go with a snort, “That’s coming from the cat who’s the actual epitome of bad ideas, Hollyleaf! For _StarClan’s sake _could you please answer our question?”

“I’ll tell you when we get there,” Hollyleaf quipped, “Besides, I asked us permission for this.”

“ThunderClan needs its medicine cat at all times.” Jayfeather retorted, “I’m the only one who-“

“Oh they can cope.” Hollyleaf interrupted, “They have Leafpool anyway, just because she’s a warrior now doesn’t mean she shouldn’t use her knowledge of herbs for the sake of following Firestar’s orders.”

Lionblaze gave her an uneasy smile, “You’re really serious about this aren’t you?”

“When am I not?”

Jayfeather released a groan.

Hollyleaf let out a half-chuckle, sounding only slightly sorry, “Just trust me, I’ve been thinking about a lot of stuff, and I figured this would be something we should talk about.” She went silent for a heartbeat, “Even if it is quite stupid.”

“Let’s just get this over with.” Jayfeather sighed, he nudged her affectionately, barely anything like Lionblaze’s own playful shove, but just as caring. Hollyleaf simply smiled at him.

* * *

The three littermates’ trek to their destination was a long distance away from even the edges of ThunderClan’s territory, both Lionblaze and Jayfeather made the assumption that whatever place they were going was somewhere no Clan cat was easily going to find.

The sun had moved a bit past its original place, and it was hot as ever, Hollyleaf was thankful that the route was laden with oak, their thick canopy of leaves covering their path with shadow. But if she was being honest, she was having a bit of a struggle navigating her way through the woods.

Lionblaze released a yawn, licking his lips, he tasted the air and paused to stare at a mouse scuttling away into a tree’s roots, “Say we should stop and rest for a while? I’m starving!”

“I suppose.” Hollyleaf was reluctant, knowing it would take a while to travel, but she conceded, knowing they needed to eat and that hopefully, she’ll be able to pinpoint how much farther they had to walk. “How about we split up? There’s a more open and flatter space over there,” she added to Jayfeather, leading the blind medicine cat with her tail-tip, “We’ll meet back here once we’ve caught something.”

Her brother rolled his eyes, “Thanks.” He muttered, grumbling inaudibly while walking away.

“It’s kind of funny,” Lionblaze began, and when Hollyleaf glanced at him, his eyes were half closed with fondness, “You and I both know how prickly he can be at times, but it’s nice to know some things never change.”

Hollyleaf said nothing, turning back to look at Jayfeather’s tail disappearing into some bushes, his movements smooth and confident, and she found herself agreeing with Lionblaze. Things weren’t too terribly different from when she ‘left’, a few new faces, sure, and the undeniable truth that some cats may never trust her, even after she coordinated their defense against WindClan, but it was still the same kind of life she knew from when she was a kit. She never really did realize how much she missed being part of something important again, being a warrior, being with family.

“See you with a pawful of mice in my jaws,” Lionblaze mewed, winking at her, and taking a huge leap to the thickest part of the forest.

Hollyleaf smiled wryly as she shook her head.

The black warrior meandered her way over their later path, scouting ahead while hunting, and grew anxious as the trees thinned out to open moor, tall grass whipping against her face as she looked on with apprehension. _Did they have to cross this stretch of land too?_ Despite knowing her brothers would do anything for her, she knew such things could be stretched so thin, they needed to get back at camp at least by nightfall today.

She sighed, perhaps this journey was too farfetched in the first place, she hated admitting defeat after they’ve come so far, but it was much more important for them to go back to ThunderClan safe and sound.

Hollyleaf peered at the moor, eyes squinting, before she slunk back to her siblings, catching a shrew and a mouse along the way.

When she arrived at their impromptu meeting place, Jayfeather was already there, a young rabbit between his paws.

Hollyleaf was proud of him, she realized she hadn’t felt that for a while, “Nice catch,” she purred.

“Thanks,” Jayfeather replied, this time meaning it, his ears twitched, “You sound disappointed, is something wrong?”

“Oh,” Hollyleaf mewed, forgetting that yeah, Jayfeather sensing a cat’s emotions was actually a thing. “I just,” she sighed, “I think we’re lost, we’re nowhere near where I want us to be.”

Jayfeather, to her surprise, didn’t seem to find the news troubling, she was sure he’d comment that she had just wasted their time, instead, he was silent, his pale blue gaze thoughtful, “Are you sure we couldn't have taken a wrong turn?”

“I don’t know for sure.” Hollyleaf meowed, “And I don’t even know if we have enough time to look for it, I’m sorry for wasting our time on this dumb trip.”

Jayfeather laid a comforting tail on her shoulder, “It’s okay, we make dumb choices all the time, maybe when Lionblaze comes back we can try looking around for a little bit, and honestly, Holly,” he added with an exasperated smirk, “Don’t you think it would do good to just let us help? You’re not alone anymore, we’re here if you need anything.”

Hollyleaf bumped her head against his shoulder, “I know, mouse-brain, speaking of, where _is_ Lionblaze, he’s taking an awfully long time.”

“Let the fluff for brains be,” he mewed, “He’s-“

Before Jayfeather could finish, their brother appeared from where Hollyleaf saw him leave earlier, though the golden furred tom wasn’t carrying any actual prey.

“Where’s your catch?” Hollyleaf asked, confused, she noticed her brother was wide-eyed as if he’s been spooked. “Are you okay?”

Lionblaze shivered and quickly made his way beside them, he shook out his pelt, “This place gives me the creeps.” He muttered, Hollyleaf and Jayfeather relaxed at his otherwise normal tone, shaky, but okay nonetheless, “Sorry, I was going to catch that mouse, but some stupid owl popped out of nowhere and caught it before I did, and it was right in front of my nose!”

“An owl?” Jayfeather echoed, nose wrinkled. “It’s the middle of the day!”

“I know! It’s why I got surprised in the first place.” he curled his lip, “Ugh, I did not like that, can we please eat now and move on? I see you guys caught plenty of food, and oh-! Great job with that rabbit Jay.”

“Don’t flatter me.” The medicine cat grunted, “Let’s just eat already…”

Lionblaze didn’t need to be told twice, gently, the tom nipped one of the rabbit’s hind legs and began to chew graciously.

Hollyleaf released a breath out of her nose, lying down and eating her mouse. She was glad to be with her brothers, but she felt bad for wasting their time like this.

“Why the long face?” Lionblaze asked, muffled by rabbit.

Hollyleaf flicked his muzzle with her tail, “Don’t talk with your mouth full.”

Jayfeather settled down beside her, grabbing her shrew in the process, “Hollyleaf can’t find the way to wherever it is she wanted us to go to.”

“Aww, that sucks.” Lionblaze meowed, giving his sister an apologetic look when she gave Jayfeather a mild shove, “Sorry you got us lost- wait, I didn’t mean to make that sound like the way it did, I- “

“It’s fine! Honestly!” Hollyleaf interrupted, “If I were you two I’d even be scolding me right now!”

Lionblaze glanced at Jayfeather, whos ear flicked in turn.

“We could have been doing much more important stuff back at ThunderClan, if I were honest with you.” Jayfeather admitted, Lionblaze looked on awkwardly as Hollyleaf deflated, “-_but_, that doesn’t mean _this_ isn’t important too.”

Hollyleaf tipped her head in confusion, the medicine cat wasn’t staring at anything in particular, his chin tucked a few whiskers above his food, “… are you talking about the shrew I caught?”

“No!” Jayfeather hissed, exasperation evident in his voice, “Great StarClan, you’re usually not this mouse-brained, Hollyleaf.”

Lionblaze was laughing, “Guess we could say that you’ve been missing chances to sharpen that mind of yours, living in those tunnels for so long.” He grew quiet, sad almost, “I’m glad you came back.”

Her whiskers twitching, Hollyleaf noticed the way he suddenly pointedly avoided her gaze, she felt her chest squeeze a bit; they really did miss her. She wondered if that was a bad thing.

Jayfeather frowned, “What we’re talking about is spending time with you, you blockhead.” He muttered before non-committedly taking a bite of his shrew.

“Oh.” Hollyleaf said.

When her siblings continued to eat, she tucked a paw into her chest and began eating her own mouse, eventually, the three of them relaxed, and Hollyleaf enjoyed the sound of their purring.

* * *

“That was a good meal.” Lionblaze mewed, slumping lazily over his littermates. “We could just nap right here… right.. now..”

Jayfeather slapped his face with a paw, “Don’t be an idiot.”

“…but I’m so sleepy.”

“Doesn’t matter, I’m not taking a nap with nettles in my nest.”

“Ha, that sounds funny, a nap with nettles in my nest.”

Hollyleaf licked a paw and drew it repeatedly over her muzzle. As her two brothers continued to bicker, she scanned their surroundings, the trees were thicker from where they came, here it was nearly identical to ShadowClan’s territory, minus the even land. She paused in her grooming… _Leafpool mentioned having trouble working their way back to ThunderClan_.

“Holly?”

The black she-cat snapped back to the present, Lionblaze had his face a mouse-length away from hers, he blinked at her, a mischievous tint in his eyes.

“You still with us?”

Hollyleaf batted at him gently, “Of course I am, furball.”

Jayfeather stretched out his long, thin body, “Let’s get searching on this great ‘place’ of yours, before we start wasting anymore daylight.”

“We’re still doing that?” Hollyleaf’s shoulder fur rose.

“Yes,” Lionblaze told her, rolling his eyes, “Now come on, you can start by actually telling us what we should look for.”

Hollyleaf let herself be led into a random path, Jayfeather stayed close enough by her side that their pelts brushed while Lionblaze cautiously sniffed at the air from behind them. The trees were older in this part of the forest, mossy and lichen covered, Hollyleaf figured that it came with the damp earthy smell of rotting wood. An oak lay on its side a few fox-lengths away, and she found it vaguely familiar.

“I think this is where I saw that owl.” Lionblaze meowed, tone tinged with slight disgust.

Hollyleaf was about to tell him something when she noticed Jayfeather nosing his muzzle through some ferns. “Did you find something?” she called.

“No,” Jayfeather replied, he reemerged from the clump of plant and scrunched up his face, “It’s at the tip of my tongue, but I can’t seem to put my paw on it, I think I’ve been here before.”

Hollyleaf felt excitement ripple through her paws, “Maybe we’re getting close.”

“_Woah.”_

Both Hollyleaf and Jayfeather looked over to where Lionblaze was staring at a gnarled tree, so old and twisted that it’s kind couldn’t be identified. Ivy smothered its thick branches, a gaping hole opening up from between its roots, almost as if it was inviting them in.

Hollyleaf recalled Leafpool’s story in her mind, the brown she-cat explaining with great detail of how the tree was hollowed out by a strike of lightning many moons ago before they were even born.

“We’re here.” Hollyleaf’s mew was breathless. She could hardly believe that they didn’t notice this earlier.

Jayfeather had his ears pinned behind the back of his head, “Where exactly is _here?_”

Hollyleaf gave him a look through wet, green eyes, “It’s where we were _born_.”

“_What_.” Lionblaze released a half-choked, half-croak sound out of his mouth.

Suddenly feeling sheepish, Hollyleaf padded over to the tree, avoiding the flabbergasted looks of her littermates. “…yeah.”

Lionblaze went after her, wrinkling his nose as he approached charred side of the tree, he stared at the dark hole; it was filled with dried leaves. “I could hardly fit in there and get a decent night’s sleep! How did Leafpool ever give birth to us here?”

“You can hardly fit in there because you’re big,” Jayfeather commented, right behind him, “Still… this is, quite something.”

Hollyleaf felt her paws tremble as she delicately entered the makeshift den, but almost immediately, she dragged her body away from the hole. The wood inside was black and falling apart, and for the first time she noticed the way the bark of the tree was mostly chipped off.

“I think this tree has seen better days.” Lionblaze mewed, whiskers twitching, “I feel like if we tried hard enough- we could even push it over!”

“And why would we even do that?” Hollyleaf asked, her annoyance boosted with her frustration of having their birthplace be an old, forgotten, crumbling mess. “It wasn’t supposed to be like this.”

Her brothers didn’t fail to notice her shift in mood.

Jayfeather was struggling to not remark about the fact his sister was grieving over a tree of all things and instead he sighed, “Don’t be sad because of some dumb tree, besides, the fact that we even found it matters more…” he shared a glance with Lionblaze, who shrugged uselessly. “...right?”

Hollyleaf shook her head, “Ugh, I know, I just thought I’d set some things right, about how us, our parents, the warrior code”

“We were born in leaf-bare, if I remember correctly,” Lionblaze mewed, Hollyleaf shot him a look, it was obvious the golden tom was changing the subject, “Leafpool took us out here so that she could give birth.”

“Don’t forget Squirrelflight,” Jayfeather mewed, his tone unreadable, “Sometimes I wonder how Leafpool convinced her into this mess.”

Lionblaze looked sheepish, “I mean, I kind of get it, I wouldn’t want you guys to get into trouble because you were having kits.” he paused, “I guess it was the fact that they lied about it that made us angry.”

“No kidding.”

Hollyleaf dubiously bent her head to look up at the tree, “I still want to try and understand it though, why Leafpool did what she did.”

“Oh I feel you, to be honest.” Lionblaze quipped, “Whatever she saw in Crowfeather is something I’ll _never_ understand.”

The two released similar groans.

“Not wrong,”Jayfeather admitted, “But I’d rather not get into that, Crowfeather’s not someone I’d like to be reminded to be my father.”

“That’s not what I was talking about.” Hollyleaf gave her brother a look, he gives her a crooked grin in turn, “It’s just- you two know how I feel about the warrior code- I’m only wondering how something can be more important that it would make cats ignore it like this.”

Lionblaze padded up to her side and sat down, wrapping his fluffy tail around her shoulders, “You’ve heard this a hundred times by now, but honestly, Holly, you are _way_ too uptight regarding the code if at all!”

“He’s right.” Jayfeather mewed, puting off Hollyleaf’s spluttering, “But it’s not bad, as a loyal cat its inspiring, even. However, it really isn’t helpful in regards to living our life as our _own_.”

Hollyleaf stared at him blankly, “You lost me.”

“-what I mean is, the code isn’t our only way of living, it doesn’t control us.”

Lionblaze nudged her, “It means we’re not just a bunch of brainwashed cats blindly following the code because it’s ‘right’.”

Hollyleaf wrinkled her nose, “Of course not.”

“Then stop acting like it is.” Jayfeather mewed, flicking his tail over her nose. “It’s _important_ but it’s not more important than our lives so much so that you have to live miserably to make up breaking it.”

“Cats make mistakes all the time,” Lionblaze murmured, eyes flashing with memories Hollyleaf knew about and didn’t, “If someone had to be punished every time someone broke it, then we’d all just be afraid of doing so rather than see _why_ it’s important. Not to mention we’ll lose sight of the less complicated things- like fresh-kill! For example.”

Jayfeather snorted, “I thought you’d actually grown a brain for once, but you were actually just worried about food.”

“I can’t help it! Prey is good, makes me feel full and warm, but it’s only second to you guys.”

Hollyleaf couldn’t help the laugh that bubbled out of her mouth. The two brothers look to her in varying expressions of amusement. Just as the last of the afternoon sunlight disappeared over the trees, she bumped shoulders with each of two of the dumbest and lovable cats in her life and sighed, “Let’s go home.”

* * *

Brambleclaw let out a relieved breath at the familiar sight of black, gray, and golden fur appearing among the undergrowth. Before the three could greet him properly, he was already right by them, purring and rubbing his cheek against theirs.

“I thought you lot were in trouble!” he mewed, voice sleepy, it was the crack of dawn, and the deputy had stayed awake waiting for them. “Squirrelfight was about to kill me when the moon was at its peak and you guys weren’t back yet!”

Lionblaze chuckled sheepishly, just as he ignored Jayfeather hissing at the affection, “Sorry! We didn’t know we’d be going somewhere so far.”

“It’s alright, did you find what you were looking for then?”

“We did.” Hollyleaf answered, tail raising despite the clear exhaustion in her pose, “I was just being a mouse-brain actually, everything was right here all along.”

Brambleclaw held that sort of choked up smile on his face before pushing his muzzle against her forehead, and in that moment, Hollyleaf was just plainly and simply happy.

**Author's Note:**

> had this one in the back burner for MONTHS and idk, i needed a break from writing in other fandoms and what better way than to finish up a fic about my fav cat siblings
> 
> sorry if it was a bit boring! idk how this reached 3k words lol i just love my cat children a lot


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